June 2024: StokerCon Debrief!
Every month I share what I’m working on, what I’m reading, and what I’m watching. Plus a cute kitty photo! Please Subscribe and Share! It’s a quick, free way to help authors like me. (Do NOT feel obligated to pledge!)
What I’m Working On
The big thing this month is StokerCon, the annual convention for horror writers sponsored by the Horror Writers’ Association. The BramStoker awards are given every year at this event, and it’s well attended by some of the best writers in the business. StokerCon is a great place to network, sell books, and learn about writing, markets, publishing, and the major themes and trends in horror.
This year, over 700 horror writers and readers descended on San Diego! Notable guests included Jonathan Maberry, Stephen Graham Jones, Jamie Flanagan, Chuck Tingle, Tananarive Due, Nisi Shawl, and Paul Tremblay, among others! Advance copies of my forthcoming novel As Those Above Fall were available, and several folks went home with a signed copy!
I had the great honor of moderating the Once-human Monsters panel, where we discussed our ongoing fascination with the transformation of the human into the monstrous. We talked vampires, zombies, and werewolves, and delved into what the monstrous represents in a wide variety of stories. What a treat!
I also appeared on the High-heeled Horror panel to discuss representations of women and femme presenting people (non-men) in the horror genre. We critiqued the “strong female protagonist” and “final girl” tropes, examined why female leads are often “unlikable” (and what that suggests about our culture), and how to write feminist horror. Panel moderator Tamika Thompson even put together a reading list that I highly recommend checking out! I know I’ll be working my way through what I have not read in the coming months.
Finally, I read from my forthcoming novel at an author reading. I was joined by three other outstanding authors, one of whom, Christa Carmen, won the Bram Stoker in the first novel category for The Daughters of Block Island. I snagged a personalized copy!
One of the main things I’m working on is publicity for my upcoming book. That’s why StokerCon is so important: authors promote one another with blurbs and reviews. And my book got its first blurb!
“As Those Above Fall explores what one would do, what one would become, to bring back their beloved. Drowning in grief, self-destruction, and unchecked power, Zorah’s answer is anything and everything. In this provocative and brutal debut, Catlyn Ladd bites deep, leaving behind a trace of whiskey laced with blood and bitter longing.” Angela Sylvaine, author of Frost Bite and The Dead Spot
What I’m Reading
I picked up a copy of fellow Winding Road Stories author C.K. Turner’s debut novel Sparrow in a Tin can and damn. I cannot recommend it highly enough! C.K. is also a poet and this book is lyrical, figurative, and so, so creative.
What I’m Watching
I went on a bit of a Ti West binge recently, watching X and Pearl in preparation for the upcoming Maxxxine. All three star the incomparable Mia Goth, and X also features Jenna Ortega, who is rapidly becoming quite the scream queen. So far, X is my favorite of the three; geriatric serial killers are seeing quite the heyday right now! It’s a fun twist on the slasher genre.
Kitty pic!
Your reward for getting to the end: